


Problems of a Teenage Weirdo

by cow7dvd



Category: Homestuck
Genre: AU, Blind Date, Highschool AU, M/M, slight Jade/Tavros, slight Rosemary, slight dave/terezi
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2012-08-04
Updated: 2013-07-07
Packaged: 2017-11-11 09:44:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 9,253
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/477185
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cow7dvd/pseuds/cow7dvd
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Dave, Rose's cousin, is new in town. He soon meets a girl and they go out. She breaks his heart. Rose sets up Dave with John. Dave thinks it's a date. John thinks it's just friends being friends. Some other shit happens. Let's see how it pans out. Mentions of rosemary, dave/terezi, and jade/tavros.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Beginning

**Author's Note:**

> This was apparently gonna be a one shot but then I started writing and decided to make it at least a few chapters long. I don't know exactly what's gonna happen with this story right now. No idea what's gonna happen with it, so I guess it will be a surprise for us all. Enjoy!

"No really Rose it's alright, I don't need you to set me up on a date." You cry out into the phone receiver. Your name is John Egbert and you are currently lying on your bed talking to your friend Rose on the phone. She really wants to set you up on a date. A blind date. The thought of it makes your head spin. You've never been that great with making friends, let alone GIRLfriends. Rose knows you don’t talk to many people outside of your few friends. She also knows you are completely okay with that. 

“No John, I really think this would be helpful to your situation. Being daring and trying to form relationships will help you when you graduate and go off to college. Remember I’m going far away for college, and Jade is leaving the country to travel.” Jade is your sister. Well not really, though she might as well be. She’s actually your cousin. She used to live on a remote island with her Grandfather and her dog, Bec, but since her Grandfather died, she’s been staying with you and your dad until she can graduate and start traveling the world like she’s wanted to since she was young. 

“I know but I can manage Rose, I’m not a kid.” You say the last part in the whiniest voice you can manage, and can practically hear her rolling her eyes. 

“But I know some very nice boys who would very much like to-” 

“ROSE! I am not a homosexual. How many times do I have to repeat that?” 

“Yes, John I understand, that has become a mantra for you, but I believe it would be important for you to explore your sexuality more closely before you ship off for college and the working world. You may never have this opportunity again, you know. Just think about it. I have to go now. Goodnight John.”

“What doing some homework?” You sneer. She hangs up on you. You frown a little and feel a small pang of guilt. Oh well. She should have expected it. She probably did in fact. Speaking of homework, you haven’t done any of yours. You spare a look at the clock. It’s nearly ten. Your dad will want you in bed by eleven. “Shit” You mutter under your breath. 

\--------------------

It is nearly December and your Bro decides that he wants you to move close to your cousin and her mom. Your name is Dave Strider and you hate the cold. Why do they have to live in fucking Maine. Milbridge, Maine to be exact. It’s right on the coast so it has a nice ocean breeze to FREEZE YOUR ASS OFF. You don’t really remember either of the people you’ll be living with for an indefinite amount of time. That makes sense though, seeing as you haven’t seen either of them since you were basically a toddler. You really aren’t looking forward to this. You don’t say anything of course, because that wouldn’t be cool. 

“Hello Dirk. It’s nice to see you again. And this is Dave? Damn he’s grown up. I haven’t seen you since you were about four.” She pauses briefly to give both of you a hug. She smells strongly of alcohol and cats. “Come inside. You both must be freezing.” When you first saw the house you figured it would be the normal boring rich person house. The kind where there’s basically nothing but a couple chairs and couches, a table, a carpet, and a lamp. You realize immediately you were mistaken. As you step through the doorway you are immediately accosted by a cat. Said cat happened to land on your face. You are allergic to cats. 

“Fucking cats.” It comes out muffled, though, as you have yet to get the cat off of you. The older woman gently grabs the cats sides and pulls it off. She has a smile on her face that makes you scowl. Or it would have had you not immediately started to sneeze. You can feel your eyes become irritated and your nose fill with snot as the woman quickly runs to get tissues and allergy medication. You quickly notice all of the wizard statues. Also the bronzed vacuum in the corner. That’s fucking weird. 

“I’m sorry about Jaspers, Dave. He gets very clingy when he likes someone. Guess you’ve made a friend already.” Her laugh is unexpected because although she seems somewhat old and worn out, her laugh sounds like a little kids. She throws her head back when she laughs too, which nearly gets a smile out of you. You decide you like this woman. “Oh I haven’t introduced myself, have I? My name is Roxy. And that’s what you’ll call me. I don’t want you to think you have to treat me like a superior. I’m your friend here. You can always talk to me.” She emphasizes the last word as she dramatically swings her arm around and points a thumb to her chest, then gives a little nod. Bro chuckles. 

\---------------------------------------

Your name is Rose Lalonde, and you can hear your mother laughing downstairs. Your relatives must have arrived early. Mom said they’d be here around three but it’s barely two thirty. You make your way downstairs. You hear your computer ding, signaling an incoming message, most likely from John. You ignore it. He can wait. When your head was turned, as you acknowledged your computer, you nearly trip on your beloved cat. He notices you coming, though, and stops cleaning himself long enough to run the rest of the way up the stairs, passing you with a flick of his tail. You hear your mother introduce herself, then a deep chuckle. That’s when you make your entrance. 

“Hello Rosey, finally done with your homework? I keep telling her she should get out more. Homework isn’t the most important thing in the world.” You roll you eyes and tuck a lock of hair behind your ear. You walk up to the two boys. Well only on of them could really be called a “boy”. The other was more akin to a “man”. They both stand up.

“My name is Dirk, but you can call me Bro.” The man offers his hand to you and you shake it, noting the strength and sureness in his grip. Obviously a bit prideful and most likely a little vain. Damn it. You need to stop psychologically analyzing everyone you meet. 

“My name’s Dave.” That’s all the other one says. He doesn’t put his hand out until his brother nudges him. He sighs and finally gives in. Your hands shake quickly and you can’t help but mentally jot down a note. His grasp is stiff. That coupled with his sigh and his short self-introduction means he probably doesn’t want to be here. You let that one slide though, it will probably help you with how to treat him. If he doesn’t want to be here, you’ll talk to him a bit and then give him as much space as he needs. Mother tells you to show your guests around, but the older one insists he remembers where everything is, and that he just wants to catch up on everything. You reluctantly lead Dave to the kitchen to show him where everything is. If John is the one who messaged you before, he’s probably having an aneurism by now. 

“So you’ve lived here all your life, huh?” The question is awkward and probably just to fill the silence. So he doesn’t like silence and is most likely keeping the subject away from him. Interesting. 

“Yes. there’s not a moment when I haven’t lived here.” You consider asking him about his home but feel the question may be pushing it since he’s just left his home not two days ago. Instead you go for a different approach. “What do you think of it? The house I mean.” He pauses a moment in surprise. Probably not used to being asked his opinion.

“It’s alright. A little too much cat if you ask me.” He sniffles and you smile. Jaspers found a new friend already. “If you don’t mind me asking what’s with the fucking weird vacuum out there?” You sigh heavily. Not this story. 

“It was a present I gave my mother for Mother’s day.”

“You gave your mom a bronzed vacuum?” He interrupts.

“No, but she claims that she appreciated the present so much she wanted to bronze it. It’s still plugged in and can be turned on. It’s extremely annoying.” You make a face that tells him you regret the present. “Also if you could refrain from cursing here. Or at least around mom. She doesn’t like foul language.” It’s his turn to make a face now. You can tell he’s gonna love it here. 

\----------------------------------

“Heehee. Really? I didn’t know she had a cousin. Is he on her mother’s side or her father’s side? What’s he like? Why did he move here? Are we gonna see him at school?” You shoot out rapid fire questions, mostly just to yourself though. You know that John can’t talk when he’s got a mouthful of toothpaste. Your name is Jade Harley and you are really happy. Almost constantly. Some people find it creepy. Others find it uplifting. John is of the latter. That’s one of the reasons he can stand your almost constant presence. He’s happy too, but knows to tone it down in public so people don’t think he’s on drugs. How could you know though, you’ve lived on a remote island with barely any contact with anyone who wasn’t your grandfather for your entire life. Or at least your entire life up until a few months ago. 

It was a nice day out and you and your grandfather were out fishing. You spent nearly all day out on the water. It was great. You and your grandfather could just sit in each others company for hours. It was the best life you could have hoped for. It was getting dark when you started to head in. That’s when you heard him. It was Bec, your beloved dog. He was whimpering in pain. You froze on the spot, but your Grandfather took off into the underbrush, leaving you alone in the increasing darkness. You had no idea where he went so you decided to head back to your room. He’d come back. He always came back. He didn’t though. Not that time. 

Bec came back, covered in blood. He tugged on your skirt until you consented to follow him through the trees. Your life was in his hands. You couldn’t see anything. Then the foot steps. Or should you say paw steps. There was a large mammalian animal headed toward you. It’s pace and lightness of step made you suspect it was trying to hunt you. Little did it know that in your blindness your hearing increased. It also didn’t know you had a pistol hidden in the folds of you skirt. You keep your steps calm and even, lulling the predator into a sense of false security. At the same time you reached into the waist band of the red frilly skirt you decided to put on today. There was a pocket inside that could conceal a handgun. Before you could fully reveal it though, it pounced. Nearly ripped your arm off too, if Bec hadn’t attacked it fiercely. 

You reached and pulled out your gun, but couldn’t find Bec or the creature. You heard them though, tumbling through the bushes. You tried to follow the sound, but you were focused so closely on the sound of the two tussling animals that you didn’t notice the sharp slope in the ground. You didn’t notice it until you were sliding down it, scraping the back you your thighs and your lower back as you went. When you finally stopped, you laid still for a moment, both making sure there were no skulking animals around, whilst trying to calm your hammering heart. When you were finally calm you realized you couldn’t hear the struggles anymore. You hoped either they were still fighting or that Bec was already following your scent to you. Then you noticed your surroundings. There was a break in the trees, and a strange light shining through them, casting oddly angled shadows across the leafy ground. 

You slowly stood up, wincing at the sting of the scrapes on your legs. You picked your way slowly through the trees. It was oddly silent but you push the thought out of your mind with the rationalization that everything was scared away when you came crashing down the hillside. You really wished it was true. You wish it wasn’t quiet because something else had scared everything away. You wish that thing hadn’t killed your grandfather. Once you had made your way through the trees you noticed the iron smell of blood. _Please let it not be his_. You feel lightheaded. You walk a bit closer to the light, which has momentarily blinded you. Your eyes adjust and you nearly puke. It’s everywhere and you can’t look away. You nearly collapse and realize you’ve been hyperventilating. 

You calm your breathing and think. What do you do with the body? You can’t reasonably drag or carry the body through the forest. This is for two main reasons; one, you can’t carry the body and the lantern at the same time, but if you don’t have the lantern you can’t see; second, you have no fucking clue where you are. You don’t recognize this part of the island and there aren’t any land marks around. You decide the only things you can really do is stay with the body and hope Bec finds you. He can carry the lantern in his mouth while you carry the body. He knows the way. He always knows the way. You dropped your gun on the way down the hill and hope the body doesn’t attract any predators. No. Not the body. Your grandfather. You cry. 

Eventually the sun rises and Bec hasn’t returned. You’re tired but decide you can’t sit here anymore. You grab onto your grandfather’s arm and sling it around your shoulder. You look away as his bloody face swings close to yours. Then you go. You don’t know where, but at least it’s somewhere. Along the way Bec finds you and nuzzles the back of your knees. You nudge him back. He starts to lead. You feel like you’re about to break. 

“And I suppose we will see him in school.” John’s voice finally rips you out of the memory. You feel light headed again and there’s a sour taste in your mouth. “Are you even listening anymore?” He demands with a tinge of anger in his voice. 

“Of course I am Johnny boy.” You muster up your cheeriest teasing voice you can. The nickname distracts him from the falseness of your voice. You tell him good night and head off to bed. You know you won’t be able to sleep alone. Once you know that John is asleep in his bed, you sneak down the hall to the master bedroom. You don’t knock. You know he’s probably expecting you. You slide into his bed and he doesn’t say anything at first, just hugs you close. It’s comforting. 

“You have a good night’s sleep, Jade.” He says lovingly. 

“I’ll try…Dad.” Your voice wavers and your eyes fill with tears. You bury you head in his neck as he hugs you tighter.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> During Jade's flashback, I'm aware there was a change in verb tense, but that was intentional. It was to show that she was basically having an episode, but only in her mind and she was completely consumed by it. Just saying.


	2. First Day of School

“Rosey baby, come down stairs and get some breakfast. And make sure Dave is awake!” You finish getting dressed and pile your journals into your chest at the foot of your bed, which you immediately proceed to lock. God you hope your relatives aren’t nosey. Especially since some of those journals are filled with notes on the behaviors and personalities of basically everyone you know. The rest are your creative writing journals. You make your way down the hall. Then you stop at the door to one of the spare rooms. Knock. 

“Dave get up.” You wait for the sound of movement. There is none. “Don’t make me come in and drag you down the stairs. Still nothing. Slightly curious, but also because your mother asked, you slowly open the door. Immediately the smell of smoke fills your nose. It becomes obvious of why. There are candles littered all over the place. You would bet your journals that there’s a pile of matches and lighters in the night table drawer. Obviously has a fascination with fire. God you hope he doesn’t burn the house down. 

“Get up you lazy butt.” The lump on his bed still doesn’t move. You walk over to the windows and throw the blinds open, then the windows. A cold breeze sweeps over the both of you. You hear a groan and the bunch of blankets curls up even tighter. You wait. He doesn’t get up. Time for you to make good on your threats. You examine the lump to decide where his arms are. You see a hand peeking out from a fold in the blankets. Target acquired. You go in for the kill. You grab the hand and yank hard. He goes willingly. He falls down to the floor, and you intend to let go and see if he gets the message. The only problem is that he grabs YOUR hand and pulls you down on your knees. An eye peeks out and gives you a death glare. For a moment you just sit there, but decide that two can play this game. You start to stand up, and he thinks you’re going to try to get away, but instead you use the momentum of you weight and his pulling to crush his body under you weight. 

He struggles for a minute and you can hear the noises of a dying animal come from underneath you. “I give up.” He groans. “Your gigantic ass is crushing the air out of my lungs.” You smile triumphantly and stand up. Glance at the clock. You only have ten minutes until the bus will arrive. 

“You have ten minutes to get ready.” You leave and close the door behind you. You hear the opening and closing of drawers. Hopefully he understands that Lalondes are notorious for being great alarm clocks. You make your way downstairs and grab some toast and the jar of grape jam. You were almost done jamming the first piece when Dave makes his way into the kitchen. You make a face at his appearance and he makes a face back. 

“Could you at least comb your hair?” You suggest. He makes another face. 

“I did. Sorry not all of us have the perfect hair styling abilities. Honestly if it’s that bad then why don’t you fix it for me.” He says the last part in a voice that makes you suspect he really does want you to fix it. He obviously doesn’t like to ask for help. And you suppose he cares about first impressions. It is the first day for him at the school here. You stand up, leaving the toast unattended on the plate. He looks up from his glass of apple juice (which for some reason they brought on the trip up here).

“Fine I will.” You quickly run upstairs and grab your brush and some hairstyling gel. It smells like lavender, but he’ll have to deal. You hurry downstairs again, aware you only have a few minutes. He’s still there, seemingly patient, but when you approach him he makes a remark about hurrying up, because he doesn’t have all day. You start up, and decide not to mess with him because it’ll just make you both late to school. You finish in only a couple minutes, seeing as it’s not very hard to style someone else’s hair. You are part of a club that focuses on hair and clothing, after all. 

“Your welcome.” You offer once you’ve finished and are both grabbing your bags. He looks away and puts his sunglasses on.

“Whatever.” You chuckle and roll your eyes. Typical male. 

“You know you can’t wear sunglasses during class right?” You mention on the way to the bus stop. 

“I can.” You make a mental note to ask him about it later. 

\-------------------------------------

“Jade, come on. Hurry up!” You yell, already grabbing your backpack. Your dad is waiting in the car, ready to drive you and your cousin to school. The only problem is she’s still in the bathroom. God what is she even doing. It makes sense you wouldn’t know what she’s doing, seeing as you’ve never lived with a woman before. Your mother died during childbirth, and you’ve never really stayed with any female relatives. 

She finally makes her way down the stairs, not looking you in the face. Whatever. Girls are weird. It’s not until you are both safely buckled in the back seat of your dad’s car that you notice. 

“You’re wearing make up?” You yell. Maybe a little to loud too. You dad, surprised by your voice, slams on the break. 

“John please no yelling in the car.” Your father reprimands. He keeps backing out and you don’t speak again until you’re safely on the road.

“Why are you wearing makeup?” You say, quieter this time. Jade is avoiding your eyes now. 

“It’s none of your business.” Oh no. Now she’s mad at you. 

“Look I didn’t mean anything by it, it’s just that you’ve never really worn it before. You look nice, though.” You slink down in your seat. You glance at the rearview mirror. Your dad is giving you a proud look. You feel a bit less guilty. 

“Thanks.” Jade says, a hint of embarrassment in her voice. She may have forgiven you a bit, but she probably isn’t gonna tell you why she’s all prettied up. You’re all silent for the rest of the ride. It’s not an awkward silence though. Or at least you don’t think so. You finally make it to the school and you and Jade kiss your father good bye and start walking towards the school. You both make comments about homework, tests, and Rose’s cousin. Then you part ways. Your lockers are on different sides of the school. 

You grab your binders for your morning classes. You love your morning classes. Today you have English, Gym, and History. You don’t enjoy History as much as you love your teacher. He’s such an angry guy. And his name is weird. You know what buttons to push to get him on a rant. And by that you mean you know that anything you say will make him get angry. He’s a good teacher though, you’ve learned a lot this year. 

You close your locker just as the warning bell rings. You hurry to your class. Today’s gonna be great. You make it into your seat and start getting your books out. The bell rings and the door is slammed shut by none other than Karkat Vantas, your sophomore English teacher. He announces that there is a new student in your class. Dave Strider. You realize immediately that you won’t have to wait until lunch to meet him, as you and Jade had expected. You all look around looking for him, but see no unknown face. Mr. Vantas sighs. 

“Seems our new dumbass doesn’t have the decency to show up to his first class on time.” Everyone laughs at the teachers curse. Just then the door opens and a boy walks in. He’s blonde and very pale, with a smattering of freckles across his face. You can’t see his eyes because he’s wearing sunglasses. Weird. You notice how tall he is, at least several inches taller than yourself. He’s got skinny limbs too, but you can just notice some muscle under the sleeves of his shirt. His legs are long too. Elegant. You find your eyes fixated on them and immediately give yourself a mental bitch slap. _Not a homosexual._ Your mind betrays you though giving you the thought that maybe exploring your sexuality isn’t all that bad an idea. Curse you Rose. 

Then you realize that this is Rose’s cousin your thinking about. You can see the similarity in their face shape, their noses. You would never think of Rose like this would you. You had though, occasionally. Not in a while though. Not since the summer when you had seen her in a bikini for the first time. She rarely ever swam. It’s then that you realize the boy has begun to speak.

“You’re mister Karkat right?” the class giggles. The boy has a slight drawl. You remember Rose saying he came from Houston. This thought only gives you the mental image of the boy in cut off shorts, a cowboy hat, and cowboy boots. You blush and look down at your desk, suddenly seeming to find it very interesting. 

“That’s Mr. Vantas to you boy. That or Sir.” You teacher informs. 

“Naw, I think I’m good with Karkat.” The boy has a slight tinge of amusement in his voice. The class gasps collectively at the boy’s gall. This coupled with what the boy said makes your teacher nearly have a seizure. He calms himself enough to ask the boy to tell the class a little about himself. “Well my name’s Dave, I’m from Texas. I enjoy long walks on the beach and skipping through fields of flowers.” Mr. Vantas decides this is enough and tells the boy to pick a seat already. 

The boy scans the room for an acceptable location, and his eyes seem to land on you. Or maybe they don’t. You really can’t tell. He does start walking toward you, though. Your mind immediately wonders if the boy knows what you were thinking before and is coming to punch you in the face. You then remember he’s picking his seat and there’s an empty desk on your right. 

Your teacher then apparently decides he doesn’t feel like teaching this early in the morning on a Monday and tells you all to come up as he calls you and introduce yourselves. He then starts to call you all up. It’s a few students until you are called up and you realize you have no idea what you’re gonna say. 

“Ummm, my name is John Egbert and I live with my dad and my cousin, Jade. I really dislike cakes and my favorite color is blue.” You nervously hurry to your seat and Mr. Vantas calls the next person up. You can feel someone eyes on you and you look around. No one seems to be looking at you. You then remember you can’t see the eyes of the boy next to you. 

You look over, but he seems to be paying attention to the front of the class. Man you wish you could see those eyes. You decide to talk to him. 

“So you’re Rose’s cousin right?” He just looks at you. Doesn’t say anything. Doesn’t even acknowledge that YOU said anything. He just sits there, head turned towards yours. “I’m her friend, John. It’s nice to meet you.” You stick your hand out. He doesn’t respond again. You’re starting to get nervous. Finally he grabs your hand and shakes it, slowly. You feel how cold his hands are. You shudder and tell yourself it’s because it’s cold, but you know that’s not why. 

“Egbert, Strider. Pay attention. This isn’t kindergarten. This also isn’t Let’s-Give-Each-Other-Congratulatory-Handshakes-On-How-Fucking-Retarded-We-Are time. Eyes up front.” Mr. Vantas’ voice makes you jump. Then you realize you and Dave are still holding each other’s hand. You rip your hand from his grasp. You can feel your ears grow hot. You chance a peek to your right. The corner of the boy’s mouth twitches up. So does yours.

\------------------------------------------------

“John, oh my God, pay attention.” You’re starting to get frustrated now. That’s the third ball your buck-tooth cousin has missed. It’s currently your gym period and you are playing the best game in the universe. Volleyball. He looks at you like you woke him up from a nap. 

“Sorry, I’m just distracted.” He says, eyebrows furrowing slightly. 

“Obviously.” You laugh. Why is he so distracted. It takes you nearly half the period to realize he’s zoning out while staring at a very specific spot. You follow his gaze and see a blonde boy you’ve never seen before. He’s sitting on the bleachers, in regular clothes(instead of gym clothes), holding an official-looking booklet. 

“Who’s that?” You ask, turning to him. It takes him a second to realize you were talking to him. When he does realize he gets flustered. 

“What? Who’s what? I don’t… know what you’re talking about.” That’s when John gets the volleyball spiked into the side of his head. He seems to be fine, except for the red half circle on the left side of his face. The teacher asks you to bring him to the nurse’s office, just as a precaution. He looks incredibly embarrassed by now. 

You make your way through the school, John nursing his face, and you staring him down. You want to know who that boy is. Why was John keeping an eye on him anyway? If he hurt John in any way you will kill him slowly. John keeps sneaking peeks at you out of the corner of his eyes, but every time his eyes meet yours his gaze snaps forward once again. 

You make it to the nurse’s office and he explains to the nurse what happened. The nurse goes in to the back room to fetch an ice pack. John sighs and opens his mouth as if to say something. Then he closes it again. You might just smack the answer out of him. 

“Come on John, spit it out, please. I swear if he’s bullying you then we can tell someone and get him to leave you alone. And if he doesn’t take the hint I’ll make sure he gets it.” John kind of just sits there, staring dumbly at you. Then he smiles. 

“No Jade, he’s not bullying me. It’s just that I want to talk to him but he’s so like… reserved or something, and he seems like he doesn’t like me.” John looks embarrassed once again. He still hasn’t answered your question though, so you repeat it. “Oh, right. It’s Roses cousin.” You mouth morphs into a perfect “O” shape. You should have realized that it was him when you didn’t recognize him. Although, you can’t say you know every face in this school.

“Oh my gosh. I can’t wait to meet him! I bet he’s as cool as Rose is. Have you talked to him yet?” You suddenly explode with excited-ness and nearly fall out of your chair. 

“Yeah, well he was in my English class. He sits next to me. I did talk TO him, but he didn’t talk back. He just kind of stared at me without saying a word. It was really unnerving.” John rubs the back of his neck in a failed attempt to get the hairs there to stop standing straight. He doesn’t seem to want to discuss this any further so you leave it at that with a nod. The nurse comes back with an ice pack wrapped in a dish towel. You both thank her and head back to the gym.

By the time you get back though the period is already over so you head back to the locker rooms. Before you and John part to your different rooms you cant help but notice him glance at Rose’s cousin. That reminds you. You don’t know his name.

\---------------------------------------------------

Your name is Dave Strider and you hate this fucking school. The teachers suck, everyone tries to talk to you, and no one seems to understand personal space. You guess you’ll have to re-establish yourself as the school badass. You hope no one picks a fight with you though. Bro would flip his shit if he found out you started fighting already. That’s probably part of the reason he made you guys move, because you got into so many fights. He’d never say it out loud, but he really worries about your safety. You guess for the most part the day hasn’t been so bad. Not enough that you want to burn down the school. Yet.

You’ve been through three classes already, none of them with Rose, and only one had someone in it that you would even consider talking to. He was fun. It was great the way he crumbled under the combined pressure of your silence and your gaze. Maybe you’ll find him during lunch. See what his deal is. You of course wouldn’t straight up as him to hang out though. You might ask him to help you get caught up in English. Which actually isn’t a lie, since your teacher asked you before you left the class to ask another student what they’d been doing all year. 

You wander through the halls until you finally find Rose. She’s talking with a girl. The girl has dark skin, probably of Indian descent, short black spiky hair, and a small waist. Her clothes are fancy but not too fancy for school. Obviously she’s into fashion. You totally didn’t figure that out from the fashion magazines clutched to her chest. Of course not. 

You lay back until the girl leaves and approach your cousin. She nods politely to you and starts walking. You follow her. She leads you through several hallways, only stopping once at her locker. Then she stops abruptly and gracefully plops on the floor near some lockers. The part of the school you’re in is obviously less traveled since you only see a few people around. 

You see a girl from you gym class bouncing down the hall towards you. She’s wearing a little too much make up, but over-all she looks pretty fine. The smile she has on her face is a bit concerning though. You think her face might split in half. 

She hurries up to both of you as you finally settle yourself against a locker. She collapses to the ground in a huff. She says hello to rose and then turns her gaze to you. Closer up you can see she has a little bit of an over-bite. It’s kind of cute, really. She actually reminds you a bit of someone else, but you can’t think of who. At least not until said person walks up to your little triad. It’s that guy from your class. Joyous fate. 

“Hey Rose, Jade. And the new kid. Glad to see you’re gonna sit with us for now.” Yeah, up close you can definitely see the similarities between the two of them, but they don’t quite seem to be siblings. You thoughts are interrupted but the girl who’s still smiling at you. 

“As you heard, my name is Jade. What’s yours?” she asks. You don’t answer for a second, and Rose, impatient, answers for you. 

“His name is Dave Strider.” Jade looks a bit surprised for some reason and nods at Rose. Her smile falters a bit but then comes back even wider. 

“Nice to meet you. Sadly I can’t stay though,” she says getting up, “I have to get to archery club.” She seems to be excited and yet hesitant to leave. She bumps John on the shoulder as she passes him and whispers something you don’t catch. His eyes follow her progress as she leaves, almost as if he’s kind of shocked at what she said. Then he turned back, gave you both a smile and took the previously occupied space on the ground. 

John and Rose chatted for awhile, but Rose got a text near the end of lunch and said she had to leave. John said goodbye to her and looked like he didn’t know what to do. You hadn’t talked at all during lunch. 

“I’ve gotta stop at my locker for my books. Do you want to come?” He asks. You nod and stand up, slinging your backpack onto one shoulder. He follows your lead and starts down the hallway. When you arrive at his locker you make a mental note of the number. He grabs his books and shuts his locker again. You both kind of strand there awkwardly for a second. Or at least he does; you just lean against the locker next to his, hands in your pockets. 

Finally you give in and speak. “So Karkat wants me to catch up on what you guys have been learning this year. You know books, concepts, the whole shebang.” John looks somewhat surprised, and then extremely relieved. He probably thought you didn’t like him. 

“Alright, do you want to come over my house tonight? My dad’s making lasagna, it’s really good.” You pause a moment to think. He seems to misinterpret your silence, though. “But if you don’t feel comfortable with that, I could come over to your house. Or we could even go over it during lunch or something.” The corner of your mouth twitches at his nervousness. You’ve already got people cowering from your might. 

“Nah, it’s cool. Your place is fine. I’ll get the address from Rosita. See you at five.” You walk away before he can respond, and over the sound of the warning bell you can hear him sputtering.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this took a little longer than I thought it would, and I technically finished it a week or so ago, but I kept forgetting to post it. I haven't even started the next chapter yet, and school starts TOMORROW, so I don't know when I'll be able to get it done. Byebye~


	3. Chapter 3: Feelings

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> People have feelings and don't like to talk about them.

You had a lot of fun in archery club. You don’t want to sound conceited, but you are the best person in the club. Despite that, you really would rather it be a gun club, not archery. Archery is fun and all, but guns are basically your jam. They’re pretty illegal though. And by pretty, you mean really extremely. You can’t buy, sell, register, or license a rifle, shotgun, or handgun. You can however carry around a handgun, assuming you acquired it legally, and you don’t use it unless under very severe circumstances.  
  
You would quit the club, but you really aren’t in it for the archery. “Hey Jade, how are you?” You turn around, willing the smile on your face to shrink a little.  
  
“Hey Tav, I’m good. A little tired, though. I didn’t get much sleep last night. How are you?” You go back and forth a bit, neither of you paying attention to the time. The warning bell rings. Both of your heads snap towards the clock. You both stumble over your words saying good luck in class, and see you later. As you walk the opposite way down the hallway from him, your thoughts turn sour. He didn’t even notice. Then you hear his voice above the chatter of the hallway.  
  
“By the way you look really nice today Jade!” Some people turn to look at him, and when he realizes the attention, he visibly shrinks down. You just wave, and you both turn away once again. Mission: Success. The make-up worked. You nearly squeal. You hurry off to your class when you realize the crowd in the hallway has seriously thinned.  
  
You enter your classroom, the familiar smell of salt bringing you back down to Earth. Your teacher, Ms. Peixes, is settling her papers on her desk at the front of the room. You take your seat, looking around you at all of the glass tanks. They’re filled with fish and other sea creatures of all sorts. The majority of them are cuttlefish, though, as Ms. Peixes really loves them. You must admit they are adorable.  
  
The class starts and although you get out your work and look attentively at the board, your mind is somewhere else completely. Oh to describe Tavros Nitram. He’s sweet and funny, and although he’s a bit shy and a little bit of a push-over, you’re totally okay with that. You really like him, like like-like him. Your thoughts are consumed by Tavros until the bell rings once again, signaling the end of the period.  
  
 Before you can get out the door though, your teacher asks you to stay a moment after. You wait patiently by your desk, waiting for everyone else to leave. Once the room is empty besides you too, Ms. Peixes opens her mouth to begin speaking but it interrupted when the door dramatically swings open, banging against the wall and revealing another one of your teachers, Mr. Ampora.  
  
He steps into the room with flair, and a huge, shit-eating grin on his face. You can see Ms. Peixes roll her eyes before turning her head and smiling politely at him. “ Hey Fef, what’s up?” He raises his eyebrows in a creepy, but slightly flirty way.  
  
“I’m quite alright. Now what do you need? If it’s not important then I suggest you come back later. I need to talk to Jade for a minute in private.” When Mr. Ampora looks at you it’s like he didn’t even realize you were there, which realistically, he probably didn’t. His smile returns.  
  
“Well you can say it now, then I can walk Jade to her next class, which just so happens to be my class.” Yes it’s true, Mr. Ampora teaches your Military History class. You love learning about historical military weapons, and strategies. You wouldn’t have taken the class if you had known he was the teacher. He really gives you the heebie-jeebies. Not that you think he would ever be involved with a student, but just the way he looks at people seems sort of… hostile? You don’t know how to explain it in words, but it just gives you an unpleasant feeling when he’s around.  
  
“I don’t think that’s wise. Please just wait outside for a moment.” He seems uncertain of what he should do and after a moment’s consideration, instead steps AWAY from the door, and toward Ms. Peixes. She gives him a look and he backs away, then spins around dramatically and leaves, closing the door behind him. “Good. Now Jade, I couldn’t help but notice you seemed very distant and distracted during class today. Although it’s technically none of my business, I want you to know that you can always come talk to me if something or someone is bothering you.”  
  
You immediately feel really embarrassed. You aren’t 100% sure why, either. I mean you don’t know if it’s the fact that you were thinking about a boy, or if it’s because she thought someone was bullying you or something. “No, no one’s bothering me. I was just- my mind was on something else. I apologize. It won’t happen again.” You slightly stutter, and she looks like she’s not sure of something.  
  
“No, it’s quite alright. You’re a good student. Just don’t make a habit of it.” She pauses a moment. “If you don’t mind me asking, what was your mind on?” You can feel your ears getting redder by the second.  
  
“It’s nothing, just…” You debate on whether or not to tell her. “A boy.” You rush through saying it, and she’s quiet for long enough to make you look up at her. She has this knowing look on her face that makes you even more ashamed.  
  
“Are you having boy troubles?” She suggests with a tone to her voice that tells you she’s extremely ready to give you help. You jump at the chance.  
  
“It’s just that there’s a boy I really like, but I think he thinks I just want to be friends and I’m pretty sure that he wants to be friends, and I tried putting on make up to make him notice me, and I’m not sure if it worked in the way I wanted, and then my cousin was all like ‘WHY ARE YOU WEARING MAKE UP. OH EM GEEE.’ and my uncle didn’t say anything about it and I don’t know if it makes me look bad or something, and I can’t get him off my mind, and he’s like really awesome, and I really want to tell him how I feel but I don’t think I can.” You’re nearly gasping for  breath by the time you finish.  
  
“Let me tell you what,” She starts, “ Why don’t you come in early tomorrow morning and I’ll give you a little extra help. Don’t tell anyone though, because I’m technically not supposed to do this.” You can’t believe how lucky you are to have such a great teacher.  
  
The bell rings then and she writes you a pass so you can’t get in trouble if you’re too late. You take advantage of the late pass, though, and you walk slowly, thinking about all the ways this could go.  
\-------------------------------------------  
  
The rest of your day passes uneventfully, though you do see Kanaya a couple more times. You swear it was fated. Not that you believe in fate. But still.  
  
You feel like you should clarify, though you don’t know to whom.  
  
Kanaya is one of your closest friends. Although you have only known her for a few months, you both share many interests and enjoy spending copious amounts of time together. In fact she’ll be accompanying you home today after classes end.  
  
You hope her mother lets her stay for dinner. You’ll have the entire house to yourselves for most of the day. Your mother is working and Dave said he was going to John’s. And you believe you heard Bro say he was going out somewhere, though God knows.  
  
You’re not sure what you two would do though. You don’t really have video games, you have a few board games, though not ones you think she would want to play. Maybe you can play a card game, or watch a movie. Does she like cooking?  
  
To be honest, you’ve never actually hung out with Kanaya outside of school.  
  
Also to be honest, you are kind of only a little tiny bit in love with her. Not that you would ever admit it to anyone. You’ve been thinking for a while, though, that you might tell her. You were actually planning to today, but you aren’t sure if you could without throwing up.  
  
You better decide soon, though, because the last bell is about to ring. When it actually does ring, you are so deep in thought that you nearly jump out of your seat.  
  
You collect your things quickly and proceed to your locker. You are still thinking about what you should do on your way to your locker. You see Kanaya on your way, though, and decide to figure it out later.  
  
“Hello Rose. Are you ready for me to go to your house? That is today, correct?”  
  
“Yeah, that is today. I’m definitely ready. Let me just go to my locker.” You don’t even bother asking if she needs to go to her locker. She always says no. She’s like a ninja when it comes to going to her locker before she sees anyone.  
You head to your locker and collect your things, all the while asking her about what she would like to do when you arrive at your house.  
  
“I quite enjoy just chatting if that’s alright with you.” She responds.  
  
“Well don’t you like cooking, or playing video games, or board games, or something like that?”  
  
“Well,” You think you see her blush a little, “I’ve never really tried those things before. Me and my mother would spend our time talking, or reading, or sewing. I never really played many games with her, and she never let me cook with her.” Gosh, you knew her mother was a strict person, but did they really never play games?  
  
“I see. Well, I guess that means that I’ll have to do as many things with you as possible.” You give a smile that seems to make her uneasy.  
  
“Very well.” She reluctantly follows you on the way to the buses.  
\------------------------------------------------------------------  
  
After the last bell you go back to where you remember John’s locker is. You write a note reminding him you’ll be at his house at five. You see him coming down the hall and quickly leave so he can’t catch you. Because that’s the point, you need to keep him confused.  
  
That’s how you weed people out. You know there are some people who want to get to know you, and then there are people who want to get to know you so they can tell everyone your secrets. You know that type. But let’s not get into that.  
  
You head to the front of the school to find your bus. You then realize you have no idea which bus is yours. But just then you see Rose boarding a bus with that girl from earlier.  
You walk towards them, assuming it’s the right bus.  
  
As soon as you walk on, she gestures you over. Well not really. She doesn’t make a physical gesture, but she gives you a look that makes you feel proud that you found the bus so easily, and you take that as an invitation to take the seat across the seat from her and her friend.  
  
You like this Rose girl. She’s almost as cryptic as you.  
  
The entire bus ride you sit and think about what you should bring to Egbert’s house. A notebook. A pencil. A condom. No, scratch that last one. He would just get flustered and take it seriously. And then he would undoubtedly tell everyone about his worries and then the entire town would think you wanted to sleep with him.  
  
Which isn’t to say that you don’t want to sleep with him. You just wouldn’t want everyone to know that.  
  
Not only would that completely weird him out, but you also don’t know how gay-friendly this town is. Houston wasn’t. That was a big instigator in most of the fights you got into in your old school.  
  
Not that you don’t enjoy the comfort of a woman. You just also enjoy a masculine physique. And at the moment your eyes are checkin’ out John Egbert’s fine rump.  
  
You have a feeling he’s been eyeing you. And you just love the way he gets flustered. He nearly faints under your gaze. Or really your supposed gaze since there’s no way he could see your eyes through your shades.  
  
Maybe that’s what makes him nervous. The shades. They makes some people unnerved really quickly. Mostly the types of people who rely on other people’s energy for their own. But since they can’t see your eyes, they don’t even know if you’re paying attention.  
  
You don’t like people seeing your eyes, though. You’re not good at hiding your emotions, so you cover them up. That’s how it works. That’s what your brother taught you.  
  
Yeah, some people might think it’s sad, growing up in a house where any type of emotion is shunned, but it’s going to help you in the real world. It’s making you tough. Your bro does know best.  
  
Anyway, enough personal stuff. You break yourself out of your thoughts, and immediately notice how absorbed Rose is by her friend’s words. It’s almost like she… oh. Rose has a thing for her pretty little friend doesn’t she.  
  
Well that’s a nice piece of blackmail. You hope you don’t have to use that one soon. It’s a good one.  
\--------------------------------  
  
Your are freaking out. Dave is going to be at your house in no more than two hours. If your dad wouldn’t yell at you, you’d start screaming.  
  
Manly screaming, of course.  
  
You just really don’t want to fuck this up. For some reason. Definitely not because you think he’s cute. BECAUSE YOU DON’T. Nope.  
  
You want to make a good impression. Good and simple. That’s how your dad raised you. You wonder whether you should change clothes. It’s not a date though, so you don’t really know. You decide not to since it might give the impression that you’re over thinking it. Which you definitely aren’t.  
  
You warned your dad as soon as you got home that you would be having a guest over for dinner. Hopefully your dad will act normal, but you don’t want to hope, since he’s always a little weird.  
  
You decide to get all of your notes ready before hand so you don’t get flustered searching for them when Dave gets there. You can’t sit still though, so you pace in your room for an hour going over in your head what you’ve done in English so far.  
  
At four, though, your dad calls you downstairs to help fold laundry. You spend most of the last hour before Dave arrives being anxious about what’ll happen.  
  
Finally, after what seemed like a year, 5 o’clock rolls around, and you make your way downstairs to wait on the couch.  
  
You start to get impatient though and get up to peek out the window. You see Dave standing on the porch, fixing his hair in the reflection in the window. You giggle to yourself, but let him fix his hair, watching him the entire time.  
  
You notice how soft his skin looks, and feel the urge to run your fingers across his cheeks. You get snapped out of your trance when Dave turns his head towards you, one eyebrow raised above his shades.  
  
You quickly duck your head out of the window, the curtain swaying. You take a deep breath, hoping that your cheeks aren't as red as they feel.  
  
Dave rings the doorbell, and you check yourself over, hoping that you look presentable. Not that it matters.  
  
You open the door and let him in, your father coming in to greet him. He acts pretty normal, which you silently thank him for.  
  
You wave Dave over to the couch, sitting down on the far side, not wanting to sit too close, in case you get distracted.  Not that you will.  
  
You start to talk him through what you went over so far in the year. Dave asked the occasional question, but other than that, he mostly stayed silent.  
  
He looks at you with this face that makes you kind of nervous, and you try to ignore it, not wanting to get flustered and stumble over your words.  
  
After about an hour of basically talking to yourself, your dad calls you into the dining room for dinner.  
  
Your dad made corned beef and cabbage. Normal. Dinner is mostly quiet, interspersed with Jade asking Dave questions about himself.  
  
Dave answers quietly, though not shyly. His tone of voice makes him seem laid-back, even if he was at a new person’s house in a new town.  
  
For dessert, your dad made cream puffs. Also pretty normal.  
  
You bring Dave back into the living room to finish the notes. Once you finish, though, you have no clue what to do.  
  
You don't really want Dave to leave yet because you want to get to know him better, but it's already getting late and you have school tomorrow.  
  
Dave's brother comes to pick him up, and you're kind of surprised to see that he looks much older than Dave.  
  
"Bye Dave, I hope I caught you up on everything." You say, as you open the door to let him out.  
  
"Yeah, well I had a pretty good time man." Dave answers. You wave him goodbye as his brother drives away.  
  
You sigh heavily as the front door closes behind you, and Jade gives you a look as she passes on her way to the stairs.  
  
You mentally shake yourself and head up to get ready for bed.  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so sorry! I got totally distracted by school and had a huge writers block. I've been stuck at the last part of the chapter for months. I still think it's kinda shitty, but I'm just gonna post it. I hope you guys like it, and I'm gonna try and write the next chapter as fast as I can, but I can't promise anything. (Also thanks to my friend for giving me an idea that pushed me to finish the story)


End file.
